Wild Card points help determine the postseason fields in 3A, 4A and 5A, with 4A and 5A also using them for seeding. Find a more detailed breakdown here.
Baseball’s Wild Card point standings for April 2 are below.
Chatfield joined the 5A baseball ranking at No. 6 this week. (Pam Wagner)
Just as seemingly the entire classification heads out of state for spring break tournaments, the Class 5A baseball rankings got a facelift. Four new teams joined CHSAANow.com’s poll this week, and others made big jumps.
Chatfield (No. 6), Columbine (No. 7), Arapahoe (No. 8) and Fairview (No. 10) all joined the 5A poll. The teams are a combined 11-1 to start the season.
ThunderRidge continued to lead that 5A poll, following an 8-7 win over then-No. 3 Grandview at Coors Field last week.
No. 2 Rocky Mountain also got a win at Coors Field last week, beating then-No. 7 Chaparral. The Lobos stayed put in second. Behind them, though, the change started.
Ralston Valley moved up three places from No. 6 to No. 3, and Regis Jesuit bumped up one spot to No. 4. Grandview rounds out the top five.
Three of the four newcomers are next, and then Cherry Creek is No. 9 after a tough 0-2 week. Fairview rounds up the top 10.
The change didn’t stop with 5A. In 4A, Montrose took over the top spot following its win over Valor Christian on Friday. Valor, last week’s No. 1 team, fell to No. 3. Windsor, 5-0 to start the season, is No. 2.
The 4A ranking added No. 7 Delta, No. 8 Niwot and No. 9 Palmer Ridge this week.
The No. 1 teams stayed the same in 3A (Holy Family), 2A (Resurrection Christian) and 1A (Stratton).
The 3A poll added No. 7 University and No. 8 The Classical Academy.
Teams Nos. 8-10 are all new in 2A: Peyton, Hotchkiss and Ignacio.
The lone newcomer to the 1A ranking was No. 9 Weldon Valley.
Because of the large number of out-of-state games this week, and thus, a lack of in-state competition, there won’t be new baseball polls until April 7.
Mountain Vista 18, Chaparral 17, Mullen 16, Dakota Ridge 14, Brighton 10, Legend 10, Monarch 6, Grand Junction 5, Fossil Ridge 4, Douglas County 3, Pine Creek 3.
Evergreen 13, Green Mountain 12, D’Evelyn 10, Lewis-Palmer 9, Skyline 8, Canon City 6, Durango 6, Elizabeth 6, Pueblo West 4, Northridge 3, Pueblo Central 3, Conifer 1, Montezuma-Cortez 1, Pueblo South 1.
Valor Christian and Resurrection Christian have risen to the top of their respective baseball rankings this week.
Valor, No. 2 in the Class 4A preseason, bumped up one spot following preseason No. 1 Mountain View’s 1-2 start. The Eagles received seven of the 11 first-place votes and lead this week’s CHSAANow.com ranking. Mountain View slipped to No. 9.
Montrose moved from No. 4 to No. 2, Windsor is now No. 3 and Longmont — which beat Mountain View twice — is No. 4. Air Academy rounds out the top 5.
Falcon (No. 7) and D’Evelyn (No. 8) are newcomers to the 4A poll.
Resurrection Christian, meanwhile, takes over atop 2A. The Cougars got four first-place votes and edged No. 2 Lutheran by four overall points.
Denver Christian, the preseason No. 1 in 2A, dropped to No. 3. That ranking added Front Range Christian at No. 9.
The other No. 1 teams remained the same this week. Those are ThunderRidge (5A), Holy Family (3A) and Stratton (1A).
The 5A poll added No. 9 Dakota Ridge, which beat preseason No. 4 Cherry Creek last weekend.
New to 3A are Valley (No. 7) and Basalt (No. 10). The 1A ranking added No. 9 Dove Creek.
Grand Junction 14, Arapahoe 12, Chatfield 11, Mountain Vista 10, Fairview 7, Pine Creek 6, Columbine 5, Legacy 5, Central (G.J.) 2, Fossil Ridge 1.
Dropped out
Mountain Vista (9).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Valor Christian (7)
1-0
93
2
1-0
2
Montrose (2)
4-0
82
4
3-0
3
Windsor
3-0
72
7
3-0
4
Longmont
2-1
59
9
2-1
5
Air Academy
0-0
47
3
0-0
6
Cheyenne Mountain
0-0
34
8
0-0
7
Falcon
2-0
32
–
2-0
8
D’Evelyn
0-0
27
–
0-0
9
Mountain View (2)
1-2
26
1
1-2
10
Durango
2-2
19
6
2-2
Others receiving votes:
Delta 18, Palmer Ridge 14, Niwot 13, Evergreen 9, Green Mountain 8, Ponderosa 8, Wheat Ridge 8, Thomas Jefferson 7, Pueblo West 6, Frederick 5, Northridge 5, Canon City 4, Pueblo South 4, Pueblo East 3, Skyline 3.
Dropped out
Pueblo West (5), Green Mountain (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Holy Family (6)
0-0
69
1
0-0
2
Eaton (1)
1-0
64
2
1-0
3
Faith Christian
1-0
55
3
1-0
4
Lamar
1-0
36
4
1-0
5
Brush
2-0
33
5
0-0
6
Bayfield
4-0
31
9
3-0
7
Valley
4-0
23
–
4-0
8
Kent Denver
0-0
17
7
0-0
9
La Junta
1-2
13
6
1-2
10
Basalt
2-0
7
–
2-0
Others receiving votes:
Bishop Machebeuf 6, Manitou Springs 5, Peak to Peak 5, Bennett 4, Gunnison 4, Olathe 4, St. Mary’s 3, The Classical Academy 3, Platte Valley 2, Cedaredge 1, University 1.
DENVER — No. 1-seeded D’Evelyn had four players in double figures as the Jaguars beat Falcon 75-69.
Ty McGee had 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, Grant Witherspoon added 18 points, five boards and five assists, Brian Smith chipped in with 16 points and Nate Flack added 11 points.
Valor Christian running back Christian McCaffrey is the player of the year in Class 5A. (Mark Adams)
The 2013 all-state football teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues and coaches, and then a vote of coaches. Find more information here.
The players who received the most votes in their classification were selected as the player of the year in their class.
FALCON — It was no secret during the 2013 football season that University of Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre wanted Falcon standout Kalen Ballage to be a Buff.
MacIntyre’s eyes would light up at the mention of the designated athlete from just east of Colorado Springs. Thursday, MacIntyre got his answer and is now forced to move on without him.
“I spoke with him today. He really didn’t have much to say,” Ballage said. “He just kind of congratulated me and told me that I should go far in life. I thanked him for that. He’s a really good guy and good coach and I think CU’s going to do good things with or without me.”
Ballage, like so many other high school athletes, was allowed to sign his National Letter of Intent to continue his football career on Wednesday. But the weather had other ideas. Snow and sub-zero temperatures cancelled all activities for Falcon school district No. 49 on both Wednesday and Thursday.
Falcon’s Kalen Ballage, pictured at a signing ceremony on Thursday. (Dan Mohrmann)
Not wanting to keep everyone in the dark any longer, Ballage sent in his commitment to Arizona State. He and the rest of Falcon’s student athletes officially signed during a private ceremony at the Woodmen Hills Rec Center in Falcon.
“I kind of went back and forth for a couple of months but at the end of the day (Arizona State) is where my heart was at,” Ballage said. “I visited a lot of different schools but Arizona State is the place to be.”
Ballage lined up at running back, wide receiver and linebacker for Falcon, making him one of the top versatile players in this year’s class. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 216 pounds, he has the size and the speed to contribute for the Sun Devils right away, which is what he hopes to do.
The plan going into his freshman year is for him to be used primarily as a running back, which will give him plenty of chances to score with ASU’s explosive offense.
“That’s the plan is to come in and play right away,” he said. “I need to stay healthy and work hard and I don’t see I won’t be able to do that. It’s definitely a blessing.”
Although he had plenty of options on the table including CU and UCLA, the further in to the recruiting process he got the more he felt the pull from Arizona State. He cited the connection he made with the players down there as a big reason. He had been receiving text messages from those players as signing day neared, but not to pressure him into making a decision.
It turned out the guys he had grown close to on his visit just wanted to check in on him and talk about things other than football. That attitude resonated with him and when decision time came, it made things much easier for him.
His putting it off a day had more to do with wanting to go through the signing day event with his friends and teammates than the uncertainty of the path he was about to take. And despite social media reports that he was on campus in Boulder, Ballage never had a doubt that he was bound for Tempe.
“I was not in Boulder on Wednesday (laughs),” he said. “Whoever saw that must be seeing things, but it’s been a wild ride and I’m glad it’s coming to an end.”
Ballage and ThunderRidge offensive lineman Sam Jones were the only two Colorado prospects to sign with Arizona State. The state of Colorado as a whole accounted for 46 Division I signings in 2014, making it a banner year for the state.
Mountain Range is ranked 10th this week. (Pam Wagner)
Mountain Range, 7-1 this season, has joined this week’s CHSAANow.com football poll in Class 5A.
The Mustangs, ranked No. 10, are riding a four-game winning streak, including a 22-16 decision against Rocky Mountain last week. Their lone loss this season came at Grand Junction on Sept. 20.
Valor Christian remained atop the 5A ranking with 19 of the 22 first-place votes. Fairview, which got the other three first-place votes, stayed in the No. 2 spot following its big win over Pomona, and continued to be followed by No. 3 Regis Jesuit, No. 4 Cherry Creek and No. 5 ThunderRidge.
Columbine stayed in sixth this week, while Cherokee Trail bumped up two spots to seventh. Pomona remained in eighth and Grand Junction moved up to ninth after beating 4A No. 1 Montrose.
Despite the loss, Montrose remained atop the 4A ranking. Pine Creek moved up to No. 2, jumping Monarch, which fell to No. 3.
Coronado is now atop the 3A poll after Palisade’s loss to Delta. Discovery Canyon is second and Palisade dropped to third.
Delta joined the ranking at No. 7, as did Roosevelt (No. 9) following its win over then-No. 3 Silver Creek. Silver Creek dropped to No. 8 this week.
Grand Junction is ranked No. 10 this week. (Courtesy photo)
Grand Junction was idle last week. No matter, the Tigers have rejoined this week’s CHSAANow.com football poll in Class 5A.
Grand Junction (5-2), last ranked Sept. 9, is No. 10 in the poll. The Tigers took the spot vacated by Arapahoe after the Warriors were upset by Lakewood last week. Up next for GJ: Unbeaten Montrose, which is No. 1 in 4A.
Valor Christian continued to lead the 5A poll, and received 22 of the 23 first-place votes. Fairview remained in second, and Regis Jesuit in third. Cherry Creek is fourth and ThunderRidge fifth after the two schools swapped places.
Columbine (No. 6) and Chatfield (No. 7) also stayed put, while Pomona moved up to No. 8. The Panthers, coming off a win over rival Ralston Valley, have a big showdown with Fairview on Friday afternoon.
Montrose is a unanimous pick atop 4A, and Monarch remained in that poll’s No. 2 spot. Pine Creek bumped up to No. 3, Falcon is fourth and Pueblo South rounds out the top 5.
Conifer joined the 3A poll. The Lobos are No. 9 following consecutive wins over ranked opponents Lutheran, D’Evelyn and Rifle. Rifle, No. 3 last week, dropped to No. 10 this week.
Gunnison (No. 10) is the lone newcomer to 2A, while 1A added Yuma (No. 9) and Platte Canyon (No. 10). 8-man added Sargent at No. 10, and 6-man added Otis (No. 5).
Lakewood quarterback Casey Nicholls, pictured during a game against Fairview earlier this season.
Eighth-ranked Arapahoe was poised to escape with another slim win. Only, no one told Lakewood.
The Tigers’ Anthony Brown returned a punt 48 yards to Arapahoe’s 7-yard-line with under two minutes to play. Quarterback Casey Nicholls scored what turned out to be the winning touchdown on a sneak two plays later in a 46-39 upset.
Arapahoe needed overtime to beat Mullen last week. This week, the Warriors rallied from a 32-23 halftime deficit to take a 39-32 lead. But Lakewood dialed up a wide receiver pass to Tevin Lucas on third-and-17 to tie the game at 39 with 6:50 to play. The Tigers forced Arapahoe to punt on the ensuing drive, setting up Brown’s big return.
Lakewood improves to 2-5 this season, while Arapahoe falls to 5-2.
Elsewhere in 5A, No. 10 Cherokee Trail shook off some first-half rust to rally and beat Grandview 21-7. The Cougars trailed 7-0 at the break.
“We’re happy with how we played in second half,”coach Monte Thelen told ColoradoPreps.com’s Built Ford Tough Scoreboard Show on Friday night. “Beating Grandview at any time is a great achievement for us, so we feel good about our performance, especially in the second half tonight.”
Cameron Smith rushed 22 times for 132 yards and two scores for Cherokee Trail. Quarterback Aric Johnson was 9-of-18 with 121 yards passing.
Cherokee Trail turned the ball over three times in the first half, and also had a touchdown called back due to a penalty.
“We’re really happy with how our defense played the entire game to be honest with you, because we put them in a number of negative situations in the first half,” Thelen said. “They were able to come through. We just felt like if we could calm down and play our game in the second half that we could definitely get back into the game. We were fortunate to be able to do that.”
In 4A, No. 6 Falcon rebounded from a tough loss last week to Pine Creek to come back and top Ponderosa, 24-14. The Falcons scored the game’s final 24 points.
“What was interesting is that it was like a reciprocal of our game last week with Pine Creek,” co-head coach Brian Green told the Scoreboard Show. “We were up at half and Pine Creek came storming back. We kind of followed their same formula to victory this week.
“It was really just coming out and making plays. We made some good defensive plays that put us in position to score and kind of capture the momentum early in the third quarter and never looked back after that.”
Running back Kalen Ballage carried the ball 21 times for 68 yards and a touchdown. Justin Barron also had a rushing score, but the game turned on Dylan Cutkomp’s 51-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“That one put us on top, and we just carried that wave of momentum to the finish line,” Green said.
Eighth-ranked Mead stayed unbeaten in the 3A ranks with a 41-14 win over Northridge. Quarterback Griffin Nelson was 19-of-28 for 195 yards and two scores, while the Mavericks also racked up 415 yards and four scores on the ground.
“I was really proud of the fact that we rushed the ball really well tonight,” coach Jason Klatt told the Scoreboard Show. “And Griffin was just a real leader tonight. He hung in there and threw a bunch of key completions that kept drives alive and it was just a great all-around win.”
Mead is now 6-0, but isn’t worried about any outside pressures.
“That’s been a big question that we didn’t really know how that was going to go, but we have a senior-led group that is very resilient,” Klatt said. “They’ve bought into what we’re telling them and they are beginning to be mentally tough to where we don’t listen to that stuff and we’re not concerned about outside stuff and Wild Card points and all that stuff. The only thing that we can control is our attitude and our effort. That’s what we’re doing right now.”
Holy Family, ranked No. 6 in 3A, needed a stop of a two-point conversion to season a 20-19 win at Erie.
“They had a great drive, they put together a couple of plays, and they went for the two-point conversion,” coach Mike Gabriel told the Scoreboard Show. “It came down to I think about the 1-inch line, but we kept them out of the end zone.”
Holy Family is 3-0 since a crushing 45-14 loss to Silver Creek on Sept. 20.
“I think Silver Creek kind of revealed some stuff to us as a staff that we needed to work harder in practice and challenge the kids more in practice and just get after it a little more,” Gabriel said. “We’ve changed things, and the kids have responded. We’re starting to see the results.”
In all, Week 7 has belonged to the ranked teams. Ranked teams are 43-4 against unranked opponents across all classifications through Friday’s games.
